San Francisco's famous sea lions have vanished

Chew Bakar SG

By Evelyn Nieves, Associated Press Writer – 38 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – Last month, marine scientists counted more than 1,500 sea lions on fabled Pier 39, a record number that delighted tourists and baffled experts. Why so many? Why were they sticking around? But now, almost all of the sea lions are gone, leaving the experts guessing where they went — and why.

"Most likely, they left chasing a food source," said Jeff Boehm, executive director of the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, which runs an information center and gift shop at Pier 39. "It's probably what kept them here in the first place."

On Tuesday, 10 sea lions lounged and swam and dove from the docks, spreading themselves out where the animals were stacked three and four deep just a month ago. The bulk of the herd probably followed their favorite foods, sardines and anchovies, Boehm said.

The animals began leaving in droves the day after Thanksgiving, almost as if someone had issued an order. But Boehm said the fact that so many sea lions stayed for so long is even stranger than their disappearance.

"They do move off," Boehm said, adding that in the fall, older sea lions head to breeding colonies in the Channel Islands, off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel. Younger sea lions, he said, "don't mind those rules and tend to travel far and wide."

The younger ones still sticking around Pier 39 were enough to satisfy hordes of visitors huddled against the wind to watch them. The sea lions huddled together, dove off the docks, and honked and barked,

"We're happy with what we see," said Carmen Fernandez of Miami Beach, Fla., who was watching the sea lions with her husband Carlos.

Despite the sea lions' abrupt disappearance, Boehm said the Marine Mammal Center is not concerned that they have left for good. While more then the usual number have left — usually about 40 remain — it is very unlikely, Boehm said, that they won't come back. He said the herd will probably come back, as usual, by the spring.

Chew Bakar SG

When animals disappear or appear suddenly out of norm; this could be an indication of major earthquake or tsunami fortcoming!

donkhead333 SG

Its been known that animals have a keen sense of their surroundings - rats were scampering out of their hiding holes before earthquakes. But sea lions?

Just wondering, if animals were to escape from global warming, where can they go?

Chew Bakar SG

Its been known that animals have a keen sense of their surroundings - rats were scampering out of their hiding holes before earthquakes. But sea lions?

Just wondering, if animals were to escape from global warming, where can they go?

A quote from Douglas Adams:

Thanks for All The Fish

just before Earth was demolished.

Chew Bakar SG

FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2008 file photo, Tourists watch sea lions on boat docks at Pier 39 in San Francisco. Last month, marine scientists counted more than 1,500 sea lions on fabled Pier 39, a record number that delighted tourists and baffled experts. Why so many? Why were they sticking around? But now, almost all of the sea lions are gone, leaving the experts guessing where they went and why.

noahnoah SG

Its been known that animals have a keen sense of their surroundings - rats were scampering out of their hiding holes before earthquakes. But sea lions?

Just wondering, if animals were to escape from global warming, where can they go?

they can come to my ark for shelter

Chew Bakar SG

By JEFF BARNARD, AP Environmental Writer Jeff Barnard – 46 mins ago

GRANTS PASS, Ore. – Hundreds of sea lions that abruptly blew out of San Francisco Bay's Pier 39 last Thanksgiving have apparently found a new home at another tourist attraction — 500 miles north on the Oregon coast. Thousands of California sea lions started showing up in December at Sea Lion Caves, a popular tourist draw because of the Stellar sea lions living in the caves.

The California sea lions appear to have made the trip because of an abundance of anchovies at the Oregon site, 11 miles north of the town of Florence.

Scientists say there is no way to say how many of the newcomers came from Pier 39, where the numbers fell from a peak of 1,701 in October to just 20 by the end of November. But it is likely some did, since they easily swim 100 miles a day searching for food between Mexico and Alaska.

Some of the California newcomers came into the cave, but most seem to prefer a nearby rocky beach.

Kim Raum-Suryan, a biologist at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, noticed the number of California sea lions at Heceta Head had doubled to some 5,000 in December and, like other scientists, figures the simple answer is food.

"My gut feeling is it has something to do with the (ocean warming) El Nino conditions off California, which is driving prey and sea lions up north," she said.

There are fewer herrings in San Francisco Bay, and a general decline in sea lion food off California last summer triggered a die-off of young sea lions making the transition from mother's milk to fish.

Meanwhile, anchovies have been plentiful in Oregon waters — so plentiful that brown pelicans that normally winter in California are also hanging around, said Bob Emmett, a fisheries biologist for NOAA Fisheries Service in Newport.

Picking out which of the newcomer sea lions at Oregon Sea Caves are visitors from Pier 39 would be difficult.

Many sea lions are branded, and Raum-Suryan has been recording the brands she sees on sea lions at Heceta Head. But she hasn't found anyone who did the same at Pier 39.

Back at Pier 39, a marketplace and arcade with a view of Alcatraz, public relations director Sue Muzzin was happy to hear a couple dozen sea lions barking Thursday, and hopes any that are in Oregon left their hearts in San Francisco.

"People are taking photos of the dock because it is so atypical," she said. "You don't realize how much you miss them 'til they're gone."